Shopping For Gluten Free Food? Now There’s An App For That

Remember yesterday how I was talking about how hard it is to have any kind of specialty diet? The handy folks over atFooducate have made it a little easier, with the release of their new gluten free and allergy app, which allows you to easily see what is and isn’t in your prospective food.

Fooducate’s existing food-rating scanner app is already a hugely popular and massively easy to use, but their latest product is specifically targeted to those who need more information than just calories and fat. The Allergy and Gluten Free Scanner, which is currently only for iPhone (sorry Android users), allows users to scan the barcode of items in the grocery store and immediately find out if they contain gluten, lactose, soy, nuts, or other common allergens.

Not only could The Allergy and Gluten Free Scanner be really useful for those who are living with (and particularly, who have been recently diagnosed with) allergens or food intolerances, but it could also be helpful if you’re trying an elimination diet. Or, if you think there may be something that you’re commonly eating which is making you sick, but you aren’t quite sure what it is. Just scan what’s already in your pantry and refrigerator, and see if there’s a common denominator.

And it’s not just a database of what you can’t have–that wouldn’t be very useful. The scanner also offers helpful, healthy suggestions for alternatives and substitutions, which is especially useful if you’re new to the diet.

Additionally, this app could be really awesome for vegetarians. It’s pretty astounding how much hidden fish and shellfish packaged foods, sauces, dressings, and other shelf-stable, non-fishy-tasting items can harbor. A quick scan with this inexpensive app, and you’re immediately in the know.

With so many different levels of sensitivity, it’s difficult to diagnose Celiac definitively. To make it even more confusing, just because a person has gluten intolerances, it doesn’t mean they have Celiac disease. Being new to the world of Celiac Disease and gluten allergies can be overwhelming in the beginning. If you have recently been diagnosed, it is now time to start our education process.http://www.facebook.com/WheatAllergySymptomsWithRJ